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A fake of Da Vinci's masterpiece known as the Hekking Mona Lisa was sold at Christie's Auction House in Paris on Friday. The painting fetched €2.9 million  ($3.44 million). Auction organizers had estimated its price at between €200,000-€300,000, DW reported.

Named after the former owner Raymond Hekking, the replica artwork is thought to have been painted in the early 17th century by an anonymous Italian artist.

In the 1960s, Hekking, an antique dealer based in southern France, passionately defended the painting as the real canvas by the famous Italian Renaissance painter, Leonardo da Vinci.

The world-famous Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1914, and Hekking was soon convinced the painting returned to the gallery was not really the original at all — the one in his possession was the real Mona Lisa, he claimed.

Improbable as it seemed, the art historical community took the claim seriously.

According to Christie's, Etienne has uncovered correspondence and articles written in French, English and Russian that were all willing to consider the claim that the painting might be the original. 

Upon Hekking's death in 1977, the replica was passed on to his family who have decided to put it up for sale.